"We also can’t assume actual value creation based on engagement with the product."
We work in a medium which can facilitate low-value yet frighteningly addictive user-experiences. Almost everyone I know absolutely hates using Facebook but the little boost they get from seeing notifications or the thrill of seeing embarrassingly revealing pictures of someone they knew from high-school is enough to keep them coming back. Now I'm not necessarily saying Facebook is low-value, I'm just saying that value should not be measured by the time users spend on the site. Much of that time is completely wasted and only momentarily enjoyable. I realize everybody's running a business and trying to get paid but there has to be a better way than by creating an addictive product that has a negative impact on users. As far as I'm concerned, Farmville and its ilk are one step above cigarettes... uninspiring gameplay, terrible reviews, basically no reason to use them except for the fact that once you start it's really hard to give up those little pings of satisfaction when you click a cow.
Now do I think iDoneThis is a valuable service? I'm not sure I'd pay for it just yet but I think they do a good job of creating a product which is reasonably useful and unobtrusive. I've definitely mentioned it positively to other people when it has come up but it's not indispensable. I think that with "accomplishment tracking" they've set their sights a little low if they aim to produce something which is indispensable to individuals but perhaps for small businesses it can be quite useful (this seems to be who they're targeting now).
On the other hand, iDoneThis is in a unique position to proscribe such a value based approach. They make a productivity app which is supposed to help you get things done, not take away time from your work. Could this strategy ever work for Facebook?
I like it. But I have never found a way to monetize what I do. So I am skeptical. Can you make money doing something that adds real value? I would like to think so but my life choices have left me deeply in debt, jobless, homeless and trying to file bankruptcy. No, I don't think I did anything wrong. Like most U.S. bankruptcies, my situation is rooted in expensive health problems. But, at the same time, trying to share what worked for me has brought me personal attacks, not money. Next month my web hosting expires. I am searching my soul, trying to decide what to do. I am very much leaning towards wiping my internet slate clean, not bothering to try to find a means to back it up, and looking for a means to make money rather than continuing to try to make the world a better place.
Best of luck to this company. I hope their ideals pay off for them. My current skepticism is very much a personal matter and not intended as raining on their parade.
This part really resonates with me, I really hope that this does occur one day (unlikely though), your heart (stress) and mental health are as important if not more then any job:
”High time pressure over extended periods of time leads to both poor inner work life and poor performance.” History will probably laugh at our time’s attempt to impose a mentality of industrial production upon creative work.
Very inspiring. Thanks. We're doing this at FeedForward: http://www.feed-forward.net -- trying to change the way artists communicate with each other (for the better...) is liking watching grass grow, but every now and then you see some real growth from an artist, or two people work together to create something new who never knew each other but for FeedForward and that creates value -- at least for me!!
iDoneThis is one of my favorite services. It's one of the bast parts of my day when I go through the day that just ended in order to reply to their email.
"We also can’t assume actual value creation based on engagement with the product."
We work in a medium which can facilitate low-value yet frighteningly addictive user-experiences. Almost everyone I know absolutely hates using Facebook but the little boost they get from seeing notifications or the thrill of seeing embarrassingly revealing pictures of someone they knew from high-school is enough to keep them coming back. Now I'm not necessarily saying Facebook is low-value, I'm just saying that value should not be measured by the time users spend on the site. Much of that time is completely wasted and only momentarily enjoyable. I realize everybody's running a business and trying to get paid but there has to be a better way than by creating an addictive product that has a negative impact on users. As far as I'm concerned, Farmville and its ilk are one step above cigarettes... uninspiring gameplay, terrible reviews, basically no reason to use them except for the fact that once you start it's really hard to give up those little pings of satisfaction when you click a cow.
Now do I think iDoneThis is a valuable service? I'm not sure I'd pay for it just yet but I think they do a good job of creating a product which is reasonably useful and unobtrusive. I've definitely mentioned it positively to other people when it has come up but it's not indispensable. I think that with "accomplishment tracking" they've set their sights a little low if they aim to produce something which is indispensable to individuals but perhaps for small businesses it can be quite useful (this seems to be who they're targeting now).
On the other hand, iDoneThis is in a unique position to proscribe such a value based approach. They make a productivity app which is supposed to help you get things done, not take away time from your work. Could this strategy ever work for Facebook?